Mississippi State guard Jalen Steele is out for the year with a knee injury. (Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press)

STARKVILLE, Mississippi -- Mississippi State's forgettable basketball
season got worse on Thursday, with the news that junior guard Jalen Steele will
miss the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and
meniscus damage in his right knee.

Steele, who missed eight games early in the season with a wrist injury
and also suffered a season-ending left knee injury in 2011, averaged 9.9 points
and 2.9 rebounds per game this season. He was injured during the Bulldogs'
79-72 loss at South Carolina Wednesday and will undergo surgery following
spring break, according to the school's official basketball Twitter feed.

"I feel for Jalen because he was starting to find his way in our
offense and his role on our team after missing eight games with his
wrist injury earlier in the season," MSU coach Rick Ray said. "...
Jalen has been through this before and handled it like a champ, and I
know he will come back again with the same winning results."

Mississippi State (8-21, 3-14 SEC) finishes the regular season at home
against Auburn Saturday. The Bulldogs will have just six scholarship players
for that game and the SEC tournament, which begins Wednesday in Atlanta.